Diplomacy

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Thursday (14 January) met in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Whilst the two sides emphasised positive trends in their bilateral relations, it was also obvious that there were important differences, not least on Iran.

“By holding each other accountable, we make sure that our commitments remain relevant. By honouring our commitments, we make sure that our region is safe. This is where the unique value of our organisation lies”, the Chairperson-in-Office emphasised.

The US is planning to open a consulate in Western Sahara. The consulate will be located in Dakhla, a fishing port located in southern Western Sahara, intended to become a “regional maritime hub” serving Africa and the Canary Islands through a large development project launched by Rabat. Last Saturday, the assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs, David Schenker, visited Western Sahara. He is considered to be the highest-ranking US diplomat for North Africa and the Middle East. 

The newspaper Izvestya asked Russian experts on the Caucasus to comment, and it says that they believe that the threat of resumed hostilities has not completely vanished, "since radical elements on both sides and the position of Turkey can play a destructive role".

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on the European Union to help the Eastern Partnership countries with the sourcing of COVID-19 vaccines.

A fact-finding IGAD team arrived in Gedo, Somalia to hold talks with the government in a bid to end the tensions between Kenya and Somalia. The dispute has now been eased but IGAD is putting pressure on both sides to restore ties. Somalia had in late 2020, cut relations with Kenya over accusations of meddling in local politics for "far too long".

It seems that there is no agreement as to whether the Karabakh conflict is resolved or not. Azerbaijan is willing to accept the status quo de facto, although it still claims those parts of Karabakh still under the control of Armenians. For the Armenians, the status of Karabakh remains an important issue since they hope that they can salvage something, after their military defeat, through political negotiations in the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Russian president Vladimir Putin on Monday hosted the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan for discussions on the implementation of the Karabakh settlement envisaged in the 10 November trilateral statement which ended fighting in the second Karabakh war. The three leaders signed a joint statement at the end of the four hour meeting.